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Sabers stifle Bears

Oshiro tosses six scoreless innings to hand defending state champs first loss of season

Maui High School’s Kao Mindoro scores on a wild pitch as Baldwin’s Damien Awai takes the throw during the third inning of the Sabers’ 5-2 victory over the Bears in a Maui Interscholastic League game Tuesday at Maehara Stadium. * The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

WAILUKU — The Maui High School baseball team entered Tuesday’s showdown with defending state champion Baldwin with no room for error in the race for the regular-season title in the Maui Interscholastic League.

Behind six shutout innings by Kyle Oshiro and solid at-bats up and down the lineup, the Sabers played like it in a 5-2 win.

The loss was the first in 19 games this season, non-league and MIL, for the Bears (9-1). Maui High (8-2) must still win both Friday and Saturday against Baldwin to claim the state berth that goes to the regular-season champion.

“One game at a time and Baldwin’s a great club, so we have to keep the same intensity up and come out another day and try to put up a game like this.” Maui High coach Chase Corniel said. “Kyle pitched great, worked ahead and his defense backed him up big-time. It was a good game all around.”

Oshiro led the Sabers’ 12-hit attack with a 3-for-4 day at the plate with an RBI and a run. He allowed six hits, struck out five and walked two.

The Sabers’ Kyle Oshiro pitches out of a third-inning jam Tuesday. • The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

“It’s always a team win,” Oshiro said. “Everything that we win, we win as a team. My boys always got my back, so I know that they’ll produce for me and will keep runners off the bases with spectacular plays, help me win ballgames.”

The Sabers struck for the first run in the top of the first on an RBI infield single by Mikito Barkman.

Kao Mindoro doubled on one bounce to the left-field wall to lead off the third inning, was sacrificed to third base and scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.

In the bottom of the third, the Bears’ Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa was cut down at the plate after trying to score from second on a two-out single up the middle by Chayce Akaka.

The Sabers stretched the lead to 4-0 in the fourth. Jyrah Lalim, the No. 9 batter, was hit by a pitch, took third on a single by Micah Jio and scored on a single by Oshiro. One batter later, Mindoro delivered a sacrifice fly to right field to score Jio.

Kyle Oshiro of the Sabers tags out the Bears’ Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa during a rundown to end the third inning Tuesday. • The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

The Bears left the bases loaded in the fourth when Oshiro struck out Hoopii-Tuionetoa. Oshiro wiggled out of another bases-loaded, two-out situation in the sixth when he got Hoopii-Tuionetoa to ground out to first baseman Barkman, whose toss to Oshiro covering first barely beat the runner.

The Sabers added their final run in the seventh on the only error of the game.

Back-to-back RBI doubles with two outs in the bottom of the seventh by Kaipo Haole and Damien Awai against reliever Lalim provided the Bears’ runs.

“I think we ran ourselves out of some innings, we could have done a better job of getting strikes across,” Baldwin coach Shane Dudoit said. “Oshiro did a great job, you can’t take that away from him, but we’ve got things to work on.”

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com

MIL STANDINGS

Maui High 101 200 1-5 12 0

Baldwin 000 000 2-2 8 1

Kyle Oshiro, Jyrah Lalim (7) and Bryant Nakagawa; Damien Awai, Nigel Mayfield (4) and Cade Kalehuawehe. W-Oshiro. L-Awai. 2B-Maui High: Micah Jio, Kao Mindoro; Baldwin: Kaipo Haole, Awai.

Leading hitters-Maui High: Jio 2-4, run; Oshiro 3-4, run, RBI; Waylon Golis-Bacos 2-3, run; Haoa Jarnesky 2-4. Baldwin: Haole 2-4, run, RBI; Awai 2-4, RBI.

***

MIL Standings

DIVISION I

W L Pct GB

Baldwin 9 1 .900 —

Maui High 8 2 .800 1

Kamehameha Maui 6 4 .600 3

King Kekaulike 3 7 .300 6

Lahainaluna 0 12 .000 10

DIVISION II

W L Pct GB

Molokai 6 1 .857 —

Seabury Hall 6 1 .857 —

St. Anthony 1 6 .143 5

Lanai 1 6 .143 5

Tuesday’s Results

Kamehameha Maui 4, King Kekaulike 3

Maui High 5, Baldwin 2

Friday’s Games

Seabury Hall vs. Molokai at Eddie Tam Field, 3:30 p.m.

Lanai vs. St. Anthony at Maui High, 3:30 p.m.

Maui High vs. Baldwin at Maehara Stadium, 3:30 p.m.

King Kekaulike vs. Kamehameha Maui at Maehara Stadium, 5:30 p.m.

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